Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 172
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2002, 3:30 PM EDT for 9 counties in Maryland; 72 counties in Virginia; 6 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 28, 2002, 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2002, 9:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 87 counties
Baltimore County, MD, Carroll County, MD, City of Baltimore, MD, Frederick County, MD, Harford County, MD, Howard County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Prince George's County, MD, Washington County, MD, Albemarle County, VA, Alleghany County, VA, Amherst County, VA, Appomattox County, VA, Arlington County, VA, Augusta County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bedford County, VA, Botetourt County, VA, Buckingham County, VA, Campbell County, VA, Carroll County, VA, Charlotte County, VA, City of Alexandria, VA, City of Buena Vista, VA, City of Charlottesville, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Fairfax, VA, City of Falls Church, VA, City of Fredericksburg, VA, City of Galax, VA, City of Harrisonburg, VA, City of Lexington, VA, City of Lynchburg, VA, City of Manassas, VA, City of Manassas Park, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, City of Radford, VA, City of Roanoke, VA, City of Salem, VA, City of Staunton, VA, City of Waynesboro, VA, City of Winchester, VA, Clarke County, VA, Craig County, VA, Culpeper County, VA, Cumberland County, VA, Fairfax County, VA, Fauquier County, VA, Floyd County, VA, Fluvanna County, VA, Franklin County, VA, Frederick County, VA, Giles County, VA, Goochland County, VA, Grayson County, VA, Greene County, VA, Halifax County, VA, Henry County, VA, Highland County, VA, Loudoun County, VA, Louisa County, VA, Madison County, VA, Montgomery County, VA, Nelson County, VA, Orange County, VA, Page County, VA, Patrick County, VA, Pittsylvania County, VA, Prince Edward County, VA, Prince William County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Rappahannock County, VA, Roanoke County, VA, Rockbridge County, VA, Rockingham County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Spotsylvania County, VA, Stafford County, VA, Warren County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Berkeley County, WV, Hampshire County, WV, Hardy County, WV, Jefferson County, WV, Morgan County, WV, Pendleton County, WV
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:29 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
Warnings issued inside it
30 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 3:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Craig, Giles | 47 min |
| Apr 28, 3:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Botetourt | 22 min |
| Apr 28, 4:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Bedford | 40 min |
| Apr 28, 4:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Grant, Hardy | 40 min |
| Apr 28, 4:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Roanoke, City of Roanoke, City of Salem | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 4:38 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Rockingham, Shenandoah | 22 min |
| Apr 28, 4:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Wythe | 49 min |
| Apr 28, 4:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Bedford, Campbell, City of Lynchburg | 28 min |
| Apr 28, 4:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Page, Rappahannock, Shenandoah | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 5:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Appomattox | 47 min |
| Apr 28, 5:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Grant, Hardy | 42 min |
| Apr 28, 5:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Franklin | 25 min |
| Apr 28, 5:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Campbell | 48 min |
| Apr 28, 5:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Charlotte | 30 min |
| Apr 28, 5:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Bedford | 26 min |
| Apr 28, 5:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Pittsylvania | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 5:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Culpeper, Fauquier, Rappahannock | 27 min |
| Apr 28, 5:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Henry, City of Martinsville | 25 min |
| Apr 28, 5:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Charlotte | 33 min |
| Apr 28, 6:04 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Halifax, Pittsylvania | 26 min |
| Apr 28, 6:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Fairfax, Fauquier, Prince William, City of Manassas | 32 min |
| Apr 28, 6:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Pittsylvania, City of Danville | 47 min |
| Apr 28, 6:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Charlotte, Halifax | 33 min |
| Apr 28, 6:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George's | 42 min |
| Apr 28, 6:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 7:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | LWX | Calvert, Charles, Prince George's, Saint Mary's | 43 min |
| Apr 28, 7:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Pulaski | 39 min |
| Apr 28, 8:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Floyd | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 8:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Floyd | 28 min |
| Apr 28, 8:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Montgomery | 23 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 70 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -448 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 642 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 370 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 435 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 281912 SEL2 SPC WW 281905 DCZ000-MDZ000-VAZ000-WVZ000-290100- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 172 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 305 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MARYLAND CENTRAL AND WESTERN VIRGINIA EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 PM UNTIL 900 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST OF DANVILLE VIRGINIA TO 45 MILES NORTHWEST OF BALTIMORE MARYLAND. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 166...WW 167...WW 168...WW 169...WW 170...WW 171 DISCUSSION...AS UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES THE AREA...STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EAST OF THE APPALACHIANS. MORE HEATING WILL RESULT IN WEAK-MODERATE INSTABILITY. THIS INSTABILITY WITH STRONG SPEED SHEAR AND LOW LEVEL VEERING IS SUFFICIENT FOR SUPERCELLS WITH LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040. ...IMY 393,0755 363,0785 363,0812 393,0783
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 28, 1:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allegany, Garrett | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Allegany, Garrett | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Allegany, Garrett | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calvert, Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's and 5 more | 4 hr |
| Apr 28, 2:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | City of Bristol | 5 hr |
| Apr 28, 6:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | City of Danville | 3 hr |
| Apr 28, 11:45 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Brooke, Hancock, Jackson, Mason, Ohio, Pleasants and 2 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 28, 12:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cabell, Kanawha, Lincoln, Putnam, Wayne | 5 hr |
| Apr 28, 2:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Marshall | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Virginia, 2002Tornado Watches in Maryland, 2002Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 2002Every tornado watch in 2002
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.